That might explain his up and down shooting, but if he wasn't healthy enough to play he never would have been cleared by doctors.
I just see people using Meyers as a great big scapegoat for overall crappy defensive play by the Blazers as a whole. Meyers is what he is, a relatively soft player who just doesn't seem to be able to understand how to use his big body in the way a big man needs to play. That said, does anybody think that he's really responsible for the fact that we have zero really good defenders suiting up for the Blazers?
I agree. First it was turner, then it was Crabbe, and now it's Meyers. There always needs to be someone to take out the majority of the frustrations on, but when you're this bad defensively it's literally the whole teams fault.
Being healthy enough to play isn't the same as having your timing and court-awareness at anywhere near peak efficiency. Look, Meyers sucks. He's being paid way more than he's producing. I hope that he will begin to produce better as the season goes along, but that's strictly hope at this point. I really HOPE that Olshey can find a good deal that he can plug Meyers into where it brings back a talented BIG center. I'm really tired of seeing undersized Plumlee and Davis getting abused by the bigger centers of the league.
Leonard has always been an easy target because of his size, and because more and more he's been bringing no offense to the table either. Obviously it's Olshey's job to emphasize the importance of finding defenders when choosing our team's personnel, and he hasn't made much of a case for that.
I get the frustration though. We all know this team (including Meyers) is better than they've shown. How much is debatable, but better for sure. If they weren't, there wouldn't be any reason for anyone to get so frustrated. It's like when coaches yell at players. They don't yell at the shitty ones, because, well, they're shitty. They only yell at the ones they expect more out of.
I might be alone in this, but I see him not as a scapegoat, but as the epitome of this team's struggles -- he's everything the Blazers suck at during their slump, so it's easy to make the association between him and the team writ large. You're right though, there's plenty of blame to be spread around. The only player I see playing with any level of hustle or heart on a fairly regular basis is Harkless, and even then he's nothing to write home about defensively.
I think for me it was really telling how, a few games back, the camera focused in on Meyers as he was sitting down. And he was arguing with someone next to him (a coach?), and you could see people nearby roll their eyes and look away. That's when I knew for certain. His teammates are as tired of him as this fanbase is. I think he has the skills to play in Europe, but that's it. I don't think he's an NBA-caliber Big.
I've had shoulder surgery similar to Meyers, and I can tell you it's no picnic. I'm not expecting him to set the world on fire this year. He clearly has significantly less muscle on his arms and shoulders than he had last season before his injuries. His contract is based on his contributions to the team last season, pre-injury. Yes, he is playing significantly worse than last season. I think Boob did a pretty good job last year explaining how much better the Blazers played with Meyers on the court than off last year. So far this season is shaping up to be a bust for the team and for Meyers. I don't think he's ready at all, and won't be fully recovered until next season. While I agree his play mostly stinks this year, I don't think his contract is the Albatross most people fear it is. He needs to get his strength and his confidence back. In a couple of years his contract will be peanuts, to whatever team he's playing for.
Cousins releasing a MyLe diss That's the Kings' director cutting out the mic before it's too late lol
That's a really good question. Wish I had the answer. I know that the Blazers have played a bunch of teams lately who have talented and large centers. That hasn't helped, but I think that overall nobody is performing at last year's level defensively. I don't know what to make of it.
I know, but we basically have the same players and replaced Hendo with Turner, a defensive upgrade. Something has happened to the scheme or the combination of players who're playing together.
